You Gotta Burrata

After seeing this heavenly picture on Pinterest, I made a dash for the store to see if these Spicy Turkey Meatballs with Burrata lived up to their photogenic hype.  Sure enough they did and shockingly they're even better in person if you can believe it.  It's a match made in heaven. If only dating had been this easy back in the day.

Since I knew I would be tight on time with cooking, I bought pre-made turkey meatballs from Whole Foods and Mario Batali tomato sauce.  It made my prep about 5 minutes tops.  Since I was serving it with burnt broccoli, the entire meal cost me about 30 minutes.  Pretty affordable if you ask me.

The recipe after the jump (adapted from Ambitious Kitchen)

12-16 pre-made turkey meatballs (raw)

2 cups tomato sauce (I recommend Mario Batali)

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

4-5 large basic leaves, chopped

4-6 oz Burrata cheese, cut to layer the dish

1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2) Bake meatballs as directed.  I baked mine for about 25 minutes until they had an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

3) Meanwhile, as the meatballs are baking, heat a medium saucepan on medium-low heat and add tomato sauce, oregano, and red pepper flakes.  Allow to heat through.  Sauce will thicken.

4) Once the meatballs are done baking, add them to an 8" x 8" baking dish; spoon the tomato sauce generously over the meatballs and add the basil. 

5) Top with sliced burrata 

6) Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until bubbly. 

If you can't find pre-made meatballs, here's the recipe for some from Ambitiouskitchen:

1 lb 93% ground turkey

1 egg

2 tbsp breadcrumbs

1 tsp dried oregano

2 tbsp fresh basil, minced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients.  Roll into 16-22 meatballs. 

 PC: Ambitious Kitchen

Beans Beans

Clearly I'm not reinventing the wheel since this is probably the most widely used chili recipe there is.  It's sold at every supermarket for goodness sake. But in a way I feel like I am since I've made a significant ingredient leap that takes this simple chili to the next level. That's right folks and it's all in the beans.  The recipe calls for plain kidney or pinto beans (how boring) but I said to heck with that and used Busch's Vegetarian Baked Beans and now this is my new Old Faithful.  Oxymorons rule and so does this chile!

And thank you to Rebecca for letting me in on the bean secret.  I won't tell anyone.

McCormick's 'Original' Chili:

Servings: 3-4 (I recommend doubling the recipe)

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 pkg McCormick Seasoning Mix

1 lb lean ground beef or turkey

1 can (14 1/4) oz diced tomatoes, undrained OR 2 cans (8 oz each) tomato sauce (I use 1 can of diced tomatoes)

*1 can (16 oz) Busch's Vegetarian Baked Beans  OR 1 (16 oz) can of pinto or kidney beans.

1) Brown the meat in a large skillet on medium-high heat.  Drain fat.

2) Stir in seasoning mix, tomatoes, and beans.  Bring to a boil.  Cover.  Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Serve with toppings (liked chopped onion, american cheese, sour cream, tortilla strips or corn bread). 

Here's what to look for at the store:

PC: Mccormick.com